Communication within the animal kingdom

An experiment shows that communication systems can evolve differently within the same species and even the same environment. Performed using robots, this research can enable a better understanding of communication within the animal kingdom. A joint research project conducted at UNIL and EPFL enabled the scientists to follow the evolution of communication in 100 groups of 20 robots over the course of 1000 generations. The robots were equipped with a camera that detected the environment, and also with wheels and a ring enabling them to emit luminous signals of different colors. Positioned in arenas, they had to locate a source of virtual food that was only visible when they came upon it. Their behavior was guided by a "neural network", which was also controlled by genes that could evolve through mutation and selection in the course of successive generations. An initial experiment showed that the robots rapidly acquire a communication system that enables them to transmit information about the location of the food to their peers.